The Richest Members of Congress

For the first time, the richest member of Congress, as determined annually by Roll Call, had a net worth of more than $300 million. This year's list also included many names who had made the list before.

The rankings are based on minimum net worth based on assets and liabilities that are cited in broad ranges, so the actual net worth of each representative is not precise.

Roll Call determines net worth by consulting the annual financial disclosure reports from all House and Senate lawmakers, and for each one, subtracts the total minimum value of all liabilities from the total minimum value of their assets.

These disclosures can include assets and liabilities, loans and credit card debt, stock holdings, rental properties, mortgages (reported for the first time this year) and more, but other factors like the values of personal properties and retirement savings are not counted in their assets.

Roll Callpoints out a theme for the 2012 list: About half of the 50 wealthiest members of Congress reported a lower minimum net worth than last year. It says this can be attributable to new mortgage disclosures.